Are you involved in cyber loafing? Isn’t that sounds like a wrongdoing? No doubt, the inventions of computer and internet technologies have kicked out manual work and bring comforts with efficiency. On contrary, we can neither deny that it has also brought in new threats and problems.
The biggest threat considered to be associated with “Cyber Loafing” is reduction of productivity. It really deviate attention of the employees to wander about leaving their primary task un-attended causing drop in productivity. It was found that cyber loafing is financially costing companies a $54 Billions per annum (Collin, 2000). Apart from all financial and non-financial drawbacks, it causes degrading systems and blockage of bandwidth. Also, if employees are indulged in illegal activities via office network, it can expose organization to legal liabilities. Due to this, Viruses and intrusions may occur, which can cause reasonable damage to the assets of organization.
The picture is not that bleak, it also provides employees enough reasons backed up by valid researches to do it to some extent. But there is need of proper boundaries to be defined. Many researches and studies suggest that “Cyber Loafing” created creativity (Block, 2001), as employee can have updated and latest knowledge of their relevant fields which they can use in their own domain. The positive aspects of Cyber Loafing are also highlighted by Vivien K.G. Lim and Don J.Q. Chen’s study and Mrs. Andrea Polzer-Debruyne’s, a PhD. Scholar at Massey University
Just Consider a nice message through instant messaging or e-mail from a loved one, can’t it provide emotional boost? Definitely it can. You can feel more motivated and start your work with new enthusiasm and zeal.
On part of management, they must look at both positive as well as negative aspects of “Cyber Loafing”. and must try to balance it. They must ensure that:
ü Job expectations and duties are to be clarified so that employees have clear vision of what is expected from them. They can easily concentrate on their job.
ü All possible steps are to be taken to keep employees interested in their job. If employees are not excited about what they are doing, they will try to hide behind their monitors and play in the infinite play ground in shape of “Cyber World”.
ü Stress management programs are to be implemented to help employees cope with stress at home or work place.
ü There should be training and seminars to create awareness in employees about it.
ü Well-designed policy is to be implemented.
ü Codes of conduct and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are to be defined clearly.
ü Any monitoring system may also be implemented.
We are living in an age, where every one has access to internet via cell phones and other cutting edge gadgets, organizations can’t block them too. Moreover, implementing monitoring systems have potential of backfiring. .
Don’t you think spying is treating un-ethical behavior with another un-ethical one? Surely, it can create ethical and privacy issues and lower morale of the employees. It can also cause mistrust and resentments among employees and employer. And to me “trust” is the building block for any relation, as it helps maintaining long-term relations. On other hand, mistrust can leads to dissatisfaction of the employee and may be result in layoff, which can be another problem for organization. What we need to do is to foster a mutually acceptable culture of “Give and Take” based on trust and respect.
Reference
- Prasad, Smrithi; Lim, Vivien K.G.; and Chen, Don J.Q., (2010). "Self-Regulation, Individual Characteristics and Cyberloafing" PACIS 2010 Proceedings. Paper 159. http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2010/159
- Lim, V.K.G. & Teo, T.S.H. (2006) Cyberloafing and organizational justice: The moderating role of neutralization technique. In The Internet and Workplace Transformation. A. Murugan, T.S.H. Teo, C. Simmers (Eds.). pp. 241-258. M.E. Sharpe Inc. Armonk:
New York - Lim, (2002): The IT way of loafing on the job: cyberloafing, neutralizing and organizational justice, Journal of Organizational Behavior J. Organiz. Behav. 23, 675–694 (2002), published online in Wiley Inter Science (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/job.161
- Block (2001); Cyberslacking, business ethics and managerial economics. Journal of Business Ethics. v33. 225-231
- The High Cost of Cyberslacking - employees waste time online. Retrieved 2nd November 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FXS/is_12_79/ai_68325779/
- The interaction of work stressors and organizational sanctions on cyberloafing. Retrieved 2nd November 2010 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/188064188.html
- Image/Clip art of Cyber loafing (2001). Retrieved 2nd November 2010 from http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011203/login/main1.htm
- Image/Clip art of Monitoring (2007). Retrieved 3rd November 2010 from http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/txt/archive/?postID=2445#more
7 comments:
Nice one
Please comment on it...
When i first encounter the word cyber loafing and searched for its meaning, I felt a little guilt because I do it almost everyday. They say its not a good doing coz its a form of theft(time stealing). It might be wrong to cyber loaf but in my opinion, i think its not that bad. As the proverb goes " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". For me, using the internet is my way of alleviating boredom and irritation. There are times i felt bored and irritated by some problems and its hard to focus on work so i surf the net find some interesting issues to read and when i feel better I return to work and get the job done. I think it all depends on the user. When you do it and your work is not affected then i think its not really bad. We must have excellent time management skills so no work is left undone. And when you can do it with your work at the same time, i guess it is not cyber loafing, its "MULTITASKING" like what i always do... :) nice blog yas
I had not heard of the term "cyber loafing" until I read your post, Yasir, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. At school I find that students love to cyber loaf and many of those suggestions for keeping people on task in the work place can work in the classroom. I am also guilty of cyber loafing at times at work, but when I really need to complete tasks, I switch off skype, my emails and other online distractions and concentrate on what must be done.
Thanks for your valuable Comments. Indeed, it'll motivate me to keep writing...Thank You once again
Hey Yasir.
I am afraid I am somewhat guilty of this at times.
I would suggest that it is better to teach / encourage good online practice rather than "policing / blocking" access to certain sites.
This is a big issue, and one which can only be addressed through education &, yes, trying to make the job slightly more interesting :)
It is a mordern problem I think not only for children but for adults too. Sometimes it appears to be a desease like addiction to Internet. There is a problem also of lack of communication in the families because everybody is serfing the Net or watching TV.
Post a Comment